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I love Yonder...been listening to them for about six years now, give or take. To be honest, I have been worried about them over the last couple of years, because, well, they're getting older. Jeff's voice isn't what it used to be and Dave's playing has either been getting really sloppy or they're doing a terrible job with the mixing...you banjo pickers know what I mean. He really pulls it hard with his index finger in the middle of rolls and he has more or less abandoned any melodic style that he once had for open strings and that one odd note that he keeps pulling so hard with his index finger. On the other hand, Adam seems to have matured musically by leaps and bounds over the years, and Ben's songwriting is getting better and better.

With that being said, I was really impressed with this new song Jeff wrote -- it's no juggernaut-of-a-foot-stompin-powerhouse type of a song, but it has a really catchy chorus that Jeff actually tries to sing and not just shout (something about Jeff I miss; the singing in between the shouting). I know everyone loves the energy. Don't get me wrong, I love it too. It's what initially attracted me to Yonder. But I miss them actually trying to play together tightly. If you listen to their old shows you can hear it. It comes out in this show a few times.

In any case, I look forward to more shows and a new album to wipe away that last one! With more Ben songs! Didn't they learn from that frog-voiced Dave Matthews that you don't let a producer write the songs??!!!